A KartSport New Zealand Appeal was received from Simon Hunter of Christchurch against to outcome of the final of the Yamaha KT100 Heavy Class at the 2009 National Sprint Kart Championship at Hamilton on 10-12 April 2009.
The decision of an Appeal Board appointed by KartSport New Zealand under Article D6 of the KartSport New Zealand Judicial Code is provided below.
Appeal Board Membership
Wayne Scott (Chair)
Graeme Moore
Alan Sherris
Peter Fraser
Brent Melhop
In the Matter of
An appeal by Simon Hunter of Christchurch against the outcome of the final
of the Yamaha 100KT Heavy Class at the 2009 National Sprint Championship at
Hamilton on 10 – 12 April 2009.
Hearing Details
The appeal hearing took place on Saturday 4th July 2009 at the Sudima
Airport Hotel, Christchurch, commencing at 10.00am.
Preliminaries
The Appeal Board noted Mr Hunter’s initial opposition to one of its
membership, Mr Graeme Moore, on the grounds that as a KartSport New Zealand
Executive member, he may have been party to previous discussions on the
matter. Mr Hunter confirmed to the Appeal Board his acceptance of the Board
composition.
Background
The matter under appeal relates to the final of the Yamaha 100 KT Heavy
class at the KartSport New Zealand 2009 National Sprint Championships held
at the Hamilton Kart Club venue, Airport Road, Hamilton, over the weekend
10, 11 and 12 April 2009. The Yamaha 100 KT Heavy class final, the subject
of the appeal hearing, was held on Saturday 11 April.
The Hearing
Mr Simon Hunter stated that the final was scheduled for 20 laps, however was
stopped after 6. Competitors were advised on Saturday following the race
that the balance of the race would be held on the following day, Sunday 12
April. A notice was posted to that effect. At 7.15am on the Sunday another
notice was posted advising that the results had now been determined on the
Saturday race under Rule E5.21.
Mr Hunter submitted that the requirement for the final was a minimum distance of 15 kilometres as set out in Rule G19.A.11. He agreed that the chequered flag had been shown, as had a red flag.
Mr Hunter called four
witnesses, viz.
- Hamish Cross
- Justin Neal
- Lynda Cox; and
- Ian Hunter
who referred to the confusion surrounding the incident.
Mr Wayne Croft representing
KartSport New Zealand confirmed that the race had received the chequered
flag after 6 laps, and the result had been declared under Rule E5.21. He
advised that the notice issued on Saturday had been based on incorrect
information, and accordingly a revised notice was issued on the Sunday
morning to the effect that the race had been determined under Rule E5.21.
He considered the circumstances supported a force majeure situation.
Mr Colin Harris, the Clerk
of the Course for the event advised that he had been made aware of the
requirement to close the circuit at 5.30pm, and accordingly at that time had
instructed that the chequered flag be shown.
Written witness statements were made available to the Appeal Board from:
- Bruce Cawood,
- Colleen Palenski,
- Ron Alexander, and
- Bradley Tyrrell.
Observation
The Appeal Board notes that it was unfortunate that such an occurrence
happened at a championship event, in that it would have been obvious the
race could not have been completed before the designated circuit closing
time.
Process
The appellant Mr Simon Hunter, and Mr Croft representing KartSport New
Zealand, confirmed that they were satisfied they had received a fair hearing
Finding
The Appeal Board finds:
(1) That the scheduled 20 lap race was shown the chequered flag after 6 laps.
(2) That the red flag was also used when competitors did not stop racing following the chequered flag being displayed.
(3) That in terms of Article E 5.21, the display of the chequered flag deemed the race to have ended at the moment the signal was given.
(4) That section G article 19.A.11 provides a race distance minimum for the national final of 15 kilometres.
(5) This criteria was not met.
(6) The Appeal Board notes that heats based championships, e.g. Dirt Kart and National Schools provide a linkage to Rule 5 ( and therefore 5.21), while CIK national format events have specific provisions in their rules.
Decision
(1) That the appeal is upheld.
(2) The Yamaha 100 Heavy final did not meet the criteria for a National Championship final.
(3) The 2009 Yamaha 100 Heavy title be deemed as non-contested.
(4) The appeal fee be refunded.
The parties are reminded of the right of appeal to the Sports Dispute Tribunal of New Zealand in accordance with Article D7 of the KartSport New Zealand Judicial Code.
Verbal decision given at
1430 hours on Saturday 4 July 2009.
Written decision forwarded by email to KartSport New Zealand for
distribution on Sunday 5 July 2009.
For and on behalf of the Appeal Board.
Wayne Scott
Chairman
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